About 320,000 Jardine Cribs sold at Babies R Us have been recalled according to an announcement by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission. According to the press release, the cribs' slats and spindles can break causing a gap which may lead to entrapment or strangulation of babies.There are several models included. The press release can be read here.
I was recently watching a television segment on the news regarding pool and spa drains. The story discussed how children can become entrapped in the drains, causing their intestines to essentially be sucked out due to the force of the drains. It is absolutely shocking the enormous injuries these old-styled drains can cause and the enormous strength they have.
Tje CPSC released a report and statement on May 21, 2008.
A new federal pool and spa safety law was signed by the President on December 19, 2007. The Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act requires that by December 19, 2008, all public pools and spas have safety drain covers, and in certain circumstances, an anti-entrapment system. The goal of the law is to improve the safety of all pools and spas by increasing the use of layers of protection and promoting uninterrupted supervision to prevent child drownings and entrapments.
The entire report may be read here.
CPSC announced that Kids Station Toys has recalled about 1 million chit and chat toy cell phones. The toy can break apart causing a serious choking hazard for children. It should be noted that the phones with a visible screw on the hinge are not included. Read the notice here.
If you or your family have been negatively affected by a defective product and would like to discuss your matter please contact us at 1-877-829-7211.
Seat belts can save your life if they work. 90,000 2008 Toyota Highlanders and Toyota Highlander hybrids are being recalled due to the fact that the seat belts' locking mechanisms failing.
The locking mechanism on the seat belts apparently cannot secure properly when certain rear-facing child safety seats are used, which could cause the child seats to move, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported on Friday. Read More
If you have been affected by a seat belt failure or any other mechanism defect, please report it the NHTSA. If our law firm can be of any assistance please do not hesitate to contact us.
The CPSC put out a safety alert on the harmful results form ingesting magnets. Through our child safety litigation work, we have learned of the many hazards of magnetic toys. Magnets, not just those found in toys, can be a real danger. Read the safety alert here.
Our children and their safety is something about which we care deeply. That is why our law firm involves itself in various types of litigation involving child safety. Awhile back we were touched by a video we saw on youtube about a young boy, Kyle David Miller (see here). He unfortunately was killed in a car crash. He was not in a five point harness, but rather a booster seat which utilized the car's seat belt. When we personally saw the video, our family was driven to find a booster seat for our children that had a five point harness. We realized that the booster seat we were using, which used our car's seat belt, was not securing our children the way they needed. We have since learned that there has been a foundation set up in memory of Kyle which collects money in order to buy 5 point harness seats for children up to 80 lbs. who otherwise would not have access to them. Check out the video and website to learn more about the foundation.
We have been hearing about and have been contacted about car fires. Now it appears the government is investigating fires in certain GM SUVs.
The government is investigating reports of engine fires in General Motors’ full-size sport utility vehicles. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says it has received two reports of fires on 2007 model year Chevrolet Tahoe SUVs.
Both reports allege that the vehicles were parked in a home garage with the engine shut off when the fires occurred, causing significant property damage.
The investigation, which also includes the 2007 GMC Yukon SUV, involves about 423,000 SUVs. Read the article
It seems that 555 people, which includes over 100 children, died in all terrain vehicle (ATV) accidents in 2006. Officials have said that they expect the number to increase as more hospitals and coroners report information. The Consumer Product Safety Commission also published in their annual report that and additional 146,600 people have been treated in emergency rooms for their ATV-related injuries of which more than a quarter were children.
Consumer groups and parents who have lost children in crashes have complained for years about the safety of the popular off-road vehicles.
The industry contends it's not the ATV but the driver that's the problem. "ATVs have never been shown to be an unsafe product, but there have been bad decisions made by people sitting on the seat," said Mike Mount, a spokesman for the California-based Specialty Vehicle Institute of America.
Something we may not link commonly link together are upholstered furniture and home fires. However, home fires involving upholstered furniture can spread more quickly. The CPSC took action on this very fact and issued the following statement:
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) voted unanimously (2-0) to issue a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPR) on a new mandatory standard to address residential upholstered furniture fires.
The goal of the proposed standard is to prevent ignition or slow the spread and intensity of upholstered furniture fires. These fires cost the U.S. about $1.6 billion each year. CPSC staff estimates the proposed standard, once fully effective, would prevent an estimated 100 deaths and 130 injuries every year.
“Fires involving upholstered furniture are a leading cause of fire-related deaths in U.S. homes,” said CPSC Acting Chairman Nancy Nord. “Stopping a furniture fire in its tracks or slowing its spread would buy consumers precious time to get out of their homes.”
Under the proposal, manufacturers could meet the performance standard by using smolder-resistant cover fabrics or interior fire resistant barriers to protect the furniture’s internal filling material which is the primary fuel in an upholstered furniture fire.
The CPSC’s objective is to reduce the fire risk in upholstered furniture without requiring the use of fire retardant chemicals. Manufacturers will not be required to use chemicals to meet the proposed standard. In its environmental assessment, CPSC staff projects most manufacturers and importers would likely choose options that do not involve fire- retardants in fabrics or filling materials.
“CPSC is now on track to develop a mandatory safety rule that will save lives and protect consumers,” added Acting Chairman Nord.
An NPR is the second step in the agency’s three step rulemaking process.
Read More
Read about Kids and Cars Safety Act of 2007 here.
For additional information you can also visit the kids and cars website.
Safety bills like this may start the process of saving children from becoming victims of mistaken backovers and other car related fatalities.
Changes to the motorcycle helmet law go into effect on January 1, 2008 in North Carolina which offer better specification on the type of helmet that a motorcyclist should wear.
The new law also clarifies that the helmet must be properly secured on the head using a strap so that it will stay on in the event of a crash.Motorcycle helmets are considered legally compliant if they meet Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 218, which requires helmets to have a firm inner liner of polystyrene foam that is about one-inch thick.
Compliant motorcycle safety helmets will also carry the symbol “DOT,” for U.S. Department of Transportation, permanently installed by the manufacturer on the back of the helmet, as well as a permanently attached manufacturer’s label on the interior of the helmet. Novelty-type helmets are not compliant with FMVSS-218.
To identify helmets that are compliant with FMVSS-218, motorcyclists can visit the following page for more information.
So we know that when air bags work they can save lives...so how about an inflatable jacket for motorcyclists? Apparently, a motorcyclist was wearing such a jacket while riding his motorcycle. When it crashed, his jacket inflated, worked like an airbag and helped save his life!
Joseph McPhatter, of Randallstown, was injured in a crash on Interstate 83 after being cut off by another motorist in September. According to police, McPhatter was ejected 100 feet, hitting the ground at an impact rate of 140 mph.Police said that McPhatter might have been severely injured had it not been for the Impact Jacket he was wearing -- a jacket that inflates like an air bag when a motorcyclist is in an wreck. Read the whole story
Here we are again discussing the numerous toy recalls and child items that have occurred over the past few weeks. The Family Dollar Store recalled Halloween pails due to unsafe levels of lead paint. Jo-Ann stores recalled children's toy garden tools also due to the unsafe levels of lead paint. Fisher Price has now added the Go Diego Go boats to their recall list, again due to the unsafe levels of lead paint. Dollar Tree stores recalled children's jewelry for....yes....lead paint hazards. Good grief...with the number of children's items that have been placed in the marketplace and have needed to be recalled due to safety issues... it is just a matter of time before we start to really learn the number of children affected whether through actual toy litigation or other means. But something needs to be done. It is nearly impossible to buy a child a toy without worrying if somehow the product you just purchased contains unsafe levels of lead, or to fear that somehow it was a toy that was actually included in the recall but happened to somehow miss being pulled from the shelf for some reason. It is a terrible feeling as a parent to constantly be unsure if what you are giving your child could in fact hurt them. Brands that were once "trusted" aren't any longer. It is truly unnerving.
Recently, I overheard a conversation which reminded me about the importance of this question of car seat versus a booster seat. As I waited for my daughter during one of her after school activities I heard a group of mothers and fathers discussing the fact that they were switching their children to the booster seats that use the car's seat belt rather than a five point harness. They were discussing that this was a change they needed to make because when they pick their children up from school through the car pool lane, it is too difficult to find a place to park the car, get out and buckle their children into their five point harnessed car seats.
(The car pool lane is utilized by most preschools and schools where we live. Basically, the parents line up in their vehicles, and the children are called up as their parent's vehicle approaches. The child gets in and the parent drives off). They were talking about how much easier it is now that their children can get in and buckle themselves. We had thought the same thing, putting our daughter in one of those boosters, until we learned about the number of children who are either injured or die in crashes because they slipped out of their booster seat/seat belt because, those lap/shoulder belts in the cars (the ones used in conjunction with the booster seats) are made for people with a minimum weight of 80-100lbs. We switched back to a booster seat with a five point harness. We just taught our daughter how to buckle herself into her harness. So we can go through the car pool lane with no issue. It truly is a huge safety issue that parents should be aware of before switching car seats. The following video is just another reminder:
From toys to cups....
The US Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a press release today involving children's plastic cups form Starbucks.
Hazard: If the cup is dropped, the colorful face on the cup can break off and leave small parts or sharp exposed edges that can pose a choking or laceration hazard to young children.
Incidents/Injuries: Starbucks has received seven reports of the cups breaking, including two reports in which a child began to choke on a broken piece. No injuries have been reported.
Read the whole release here.
Today the US Consumer Product Safety Commission announced a recall involving Kolcraft play yards after a 10 month old died.
CPSC received a report of a 10-month old boy who strangled on the changing table’s restraint strap that was hanging down into Kolcraft’s “Sesame Beginnings” Travel Play Yard where the child was located.
These play yards were sold from 2001 to 2007. What is terribly frightening is to speculate the number of households that have these play yards since they have been on the market for several years. I know our household has one, as do "the grandparents". Please read the announcement here and make sure if you have one, you remove the changing pad/cradle area when your child is in the play yard.
Approximately 1 million simplicity cribs were recalled earlier this week.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is announcing today a voluntary recall with Simplicity Inc., of Reading, Pa., of about 1 million cribs. The drop-side can detach from the crib, which can create a dangerous gap and lead to the entrapment and suffocation of infants. CPSC is aware of two deaths in Simplicity manufactured cribs with older style hardware, including a 9-month-old child and a 6-month-old child, where the drop-side was installed upside down. CPSC is also aware of seven infant entrapments and 55 incidents in these cribs.
What is most frustrating about this recall to me, is that the first death occurred over two and a half years ago. It appears that two deaths occurred with older hardware, and a third death has now occurred with the newer hardware. The question arises...what took so long to have this investigated? Read the announcement here.
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